Gauge for laying asphalt shingles



May 17, 1949. H. P. PETERS 2,470,183

GAUGE FOR LAYING ASPHALT SHIG'LES I Filed'Feb. 13, 1948 IN VEN TOR.Hen/*y F? Pe e/s Patented May 17, 1949 untreu STATES GALUGII; FORLAYING@enligne SHINGLES Henryl Petelisyliester, Iowa' Application-February 13,1348, Serial No. 8,263

(Cl.l .331-1883` 2 Glaiinsz l i This invention relates to gauge devicesfor lay- .in'g roofing shingles, and`m=ore particularlyv to a A furtherobject ofthe invention is to' provide' arry improved: gauge devicefor'Vlaying* r'o'of shingles which embodies means for adjustment to obtain apluralityof gaugev distancesbetween successiverows 'ofshin'gles laid ona roof, the Adevice being inexpensive-to manufacture, `rugged inconstruction, and" being sel'flsupporting with respect lto the`shingles; whosey spa'cingsl are to' be controlled.

Further objects and advantages-of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims,y and`I from the accompany'-ingx drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is atop plan view cfa shingle-gauge device constructedinaccordance with thepresentr4 invention.

Figure 21-isA av longitudinal vertical crosssectional view taken on line2 2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a side elevational View of the gauge device -of Figure l,showing its employment to gauge the spacing between adjacent rows ofshingles.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal cross-sectional Viewtaken through the forward end portion of the gauge device, showing anextension employed therewith to provide an increased shingle spacing.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective View of a pair yof adjacentoverlapping shingles showing the method of employment of the gaugedevice of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is an end elevational view of the gauge device of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, II designates the body of the g-auge device,said body comprising a generally channel-shaped member, formed.preferably yof sheet metal, and having side walls I2, I2 whose top edgesslope forwardly and downwardly t-o dene a wedge point I3 at the forwardend of body II. Said wedge point is preferably curved slightlydownwardly as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4. The bottom wall of body II isformed with longitudinally spaced countersunk apertures I4, and securedin a selected position in the body by a boltv I5 passing upwardlythrough an aperiture |v4- is a stopbracket: i6; the; stopbracket havinga resilient looped rear. portion I 8 through which bolt. I5 passes; saidbolt -beingsecuredy lby a nut I'I7 threaded rthereon and bearing` down?wardlyon'the top lea-tofzloopedportion I8. Stop bracket t5' has a.forwardly extending top arm 'L9 projectingy from the vertical body of.the bracket..

The-rearfpont-ion'of body I.I- is formedzwith an upstanding arm21)revers'ely bent at 2-I and` se.- c'ured. atitsy end: to.- thebotto-mof-v body II by a: rivet` 22;.whereby Ithe arm 2llfis lheld veryrigidily in? a vertical position; Securedto the. arms 20 by a bolt 23 isan angled bar member 24- whosev vertical arm is'a formed: with. avertical slot". 25 throughgwhich bolt 23-passes, andwhich. hasa;forwardlyy extending arm 26 which is inclined slightly in anupward-direction,- the arm 2li-'being spaced below thev bottomof body IIby a distancefslightly exceeding the thickness of a corrl ventionalasphaltwroo'ng shingle, and'this dis* tance being adjustable Ibytheprovision of vertbcal slot 25 :in the vertical arm ofA member 24:.

Secured transversely to `the side walls ofy body Il' isa pin Z-'Iand-secured torsaid pinis va leaf spring 28T-'having aforwa-rd l-oopzllformedrat .its bottom 'leaf with: a; downwardly; bowed` poration 30which projects through an Iaperture 3| formed in the bottom wall of bodyI I. Bowed portion 30 is normally adjacent the `forward end 'portion ofarm 26 Aand is spaced therefrom by a distance slightly less than :thethickness of a shingle. 'Ihe bottom leaf of spring 28 terminates in arearwardly projecting horizontal flange 3| which bears on the lower arm32 of a bent lever 33 -pivoted on a transverse pin 34 secured to theside walls of body II. Lever 33 has an ups-tanding arm 35, which whenrotated rearwardly, .causes arm 32 .to lift ange 3| to increase thedistance loetween bowed portion 30 and arm 26.

The rear end of body I I is fo-rmed with inturned lugs 36, 36, overlyingthe vertical arm of vbar member 24, and .preventing rotation of said bar-member with respect to the body I I, while permitting said bar memberto be adjusted vertically on said body.

In operation, the a-rm 26 is slipped under the forward edge portion of ashingle 31 which has been already secured to the roof and the gauge lismoved forwardly transversely with respect to the forward edge of saidshingle until said forward edge abu-ts the vertical arm of member '24,

as shown in Figure 3. In this posit-ion the shingle 3l is resilientlyclamped by the cooperation of bowed spring portion 30 with arm 2-6,thereby holding the gauge device stationary. The shingle 38 of the nextrow to be laid on the roof is then placed with its forward ledge inabutment with vertical stop bracket I6, as shown in Figure 3. Shingle 38may :then be nailed. in place adjacent the gauge device. By repeatingythis procedure at another point along the edge of the shingle 31, theshingle 38 may be positioned with its forward edge parallel to theforward edge of shingle 31.

To release the gauge device from its clamping engagement with theforward edge portion of a shingle, arm 3,5 is rotated clockwise, asviewed in Figure 3. This lifts bowed spring Aement 30, as abovedescribed, releasing the grip of said spring element.

To provide an increased spacing between adjacent rows of shingles, anextension, such as indicated at 39 may be secured to the forward endportion of body Il, said extension comprising a 'portion of body II. Thebottom wall of extension 39 carries a hook element 4I in which the tipI3 is received, the rearward end portion of the extension being securedto body I I by a bolt i2 passing 'through the forward opening I4 of thebody II and through the bottom wall of the extension, a

nut 43 being threaded on the bolt 42 to provide L securement thereof.The stop bracket l is fastened to the bottom of extension 39 by the boltI5 and nut II through an opening provided in the extension bottom wallsimilar to the openings I4 of body II.

While a specific embodiment of a shingle spacing gauge device has beendisclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood thatvarious modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur tothose skilled in the art. Therefore it is intended that no limitationsbe placed on the invention except as dened by the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A shingle spacing gauge, comprising an elongated, thin walled bodymember, an upstanding stop bracket secured to the bottom wall of thebody member and formed with a forwardly extending top flange, the bodymember bottom wall being apertured rearwardly of said stop bracket, aleaf spring secured to said body member and formed with a downwardlybowed portion projecting through the aperture in the bottom wall, a barmember substantially perpendicular to the latter, secured to the rearend of the body member and formed with a forwardly extending arm spacedbelow said bottom wall and extending adjacent said bowed spring portion,and a lever pivoted to said body member and underlying the end of saidleaf spring, said lever being formed and arranged to lift said bowedportion responsive to rotation of the lever.

2. A shingle spacing gauge, comprising a longitudinally taperedchannel-like body member, an upstanding stop bracket secured to thebottom wall of the body member adjacent its forward end, said stopbracket being formed with a forwardly extending top flange overlyingsaid forward end, the rear portion of the body member being apertured atits bottom wall, a looped leaf spring secured at one end thereof to saidbody member and formed with a dependingl bowed portion projectingthrough the aperture in said bottom wall, a vertical bar memberadjustably secured to the rear end of the body member and formed with aforwardly extending arm spaced below said bottom wall and extendingadjacent said depending bowed portion, and a lever pivoted to said bodymember and having a rst arm underlying the other end of the leaf springand a second arm projecting upwardly forwardly adjacent said verticalbar member.

HENRY P. PETERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 372,221 Hubbard et al` Oct. 25,1887 807,957 Neptune Dec. 19, 1905 1,115,202 Ingles Oct. 27, 19141,172,775 Engbrect Feb. 22, 1916 1,405,393 Bonnell Feb. '7, 1922

